The Delinquents is a 1957 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Robert Altman in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri during the summer of 1956 on a $63,000 budget. It is not only the first film Altman directed, but also the first to star Tom Laughlin.

Plot

In suburban Kansas City, 18-year-old Scotty White and 16-year-old Janice Wilson are very much in love, but her parents stand between them because Janice is “too young to go steady” and Scotty “hangs out with the wrong crowd”. At the drive-in alone one night, Scotty gets wrongly targeted by a gang who are looking for the person who slashed one of their tires. Cholly, a hot-rod greaser who heads a gang of carousing delinquents, comes to Scotty's rescue. Cholly cooks up the idea of posing as Janice's new boyfriend and bringing her to meet Scotty the next night. The plan works well, and the teen crowd all meet at an abandoned mansion on the edge of town. However, the party gets out of hand with wild drinking and dancing, and Scotty and Janice leave to be alone.